Memories of growing up in a more repressive time are hard to shake

Tommy and Tina Fleming at the Sligo Champion’s 175th anniversary gala banquet
Ireland was the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. We’ve had a gay Taoiseach, without it seeming like a big deal. And last year Dublin was ranked as the second most LGBTQ+-friendly city in the world.
It’s easy to assume that the stigma which kept gay men and women in this country closeted for so long can now be considered a relic of another time.